There's still time for Florida deer

Bob McNally

Saturday

Dec 30, 2017 at 8:58 PM

In some states the winter holiday season is a tough and late time to look for whitetails. But in Florida, especially in the woodland-rich northern part of the state, the best hunting is just getting into full swing. And there are some huge, good public hunting areas to take deer if sportsmen are willing to work for them.

Three of the biggest and best public Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) for hunting in Northwest Florida for late-season deer are the Escambia River (35,000 acres), Choctawhatchee River, (57,500 acres) and Apalachicola (581,000 acres), says district wildlife biologist Fred Robinette, who works out of the Panama City office of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). All three WMAs have general gun deer seasons running through January, with a bonus primitive-weapons late season Feb. 1-11.

These WMAs have huge zones where hunters can lawfully pursue deer with hounds. But gunners who prefer stillhunting shouldn’t be put off by that, says Robinette, because the WMAs are so huge, there’s plenty of elbow room for stillhunters and dog hunters to co-mingle.

Escambia River and Choctawhatchee can be especially good, because they have better quality soil for growing bigger bucks. It’s worth noting that they are not far south of the famed Alabama "Black Belt" deer-rich region.

Much of the very best whitetail hunting is far up the Escambia and Choctawhatchee rivers in places where most other hunters don’t venture. Such places off the rivers are best accessed via boat (including kayaks), and boat launch sites are in good supply. Indeed, boat-camping and hunting for several days is not only great fun, but it opens up huge regions to sportsmen that rarely see another gunner. Sportsmen hunting like this must travel light, living in small tents, and bringing in all food and camping supplies. It makes for Spartan-style primitive hunting, but it can produce some better-than-average deer.

Fishing and small game hunting also can be done this way, and there are good wild hog populations in all three WMAs, including the massive Apalachicola.

Robinette says that during periods of high water isolated islands created by rising water levels can offer especially good deer and hog hunting. Animals get cut off from mainland regions, and hunters who prowl the areas with boats can locate such spots and hunt whitetails that are pretty much removed from other hunting pressure.

These remote river regions are not easily accessible by roads, especially during wet times, and ATV use in the WMAs is restricted. Thus hunters working out of boats and kayaks have a decided advantage.

These three WMAs also have bucks rutting in January, with pre-rut activity starting in December. There are wildlife-rich river hardwoods and cypress areas, open without special quota permits into February - prime time for the buck rut there, too.

Apalachicola is also a National Forest, and it’s so vast that special regulations for varied hunting and access are in effect. Hunters should familiarize themselves with the area and its outdoor nuances before heading afield.

A call to a state FWC office or visit with a wildlife officer is a wise move. At better than a half million areas (over 900 square miles), a visitor can easily get lost in this remarkable wild area southwest of Tallahassee. It would take a lifetime to learn the WMA. But be assured there are good deer within its borders that rarely are pressured like bucks in other state areas.

While Northwest Florida’s Panhandle gets the bulk of the press for late-season deer hunting from December through the end of the season, there is some good whitetail action available in the north-central part of the state. In fact, Scott Johns, FWC wildlife biologist for the north-central region says he sees a good bit of deer activity in his area even after Jan. 1.

"Our district rut is in October and November, but deer can be actively rutting later with bucks chasing does that were not bred during the earlier months," he explains. "Deer in the north-central region also can be very active in January because by that time frost has had a chance to kill back a lot of browse and deer are moving more to locate food.

"The late season really is an underutilized hunting time in the region, and the last few years it hasn’t gotten cold until later in the year."

Osceola WMA (266,000 acres, Baker and Columbia counties) is open to hunting into early January, and Johns says it’s not a bad place to tag a deer for gunners willing to work for it well away from roads in the stillhunt parts of the WMA. He recommends the Sandland Bay area, and that part of Osceola south of I-10 has a good whitetail population.

Camp Blanding WMA (56,000-acres, Clay County) has still-hunt-only deer hunting into mid-January, and the daily quota permits required to access the military outpost rarely are filled late in the season, says Johns.

You can reach Bob McNally at bob@mcnallyoutdoors.com.

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